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UnitedStatesCapitolBuilding
WashingtonDCUSA
21030
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The United States Capitol Building
The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. is a symbol of
American democracy and the meeting place of the nation’s
government. As well as housing an important collection of
American art and being an architectural achievement in its
own right, the Capitol is still a working office building and a
tourist attraction visited by millions every year. The building
has been at the heart of the country’s history since it was
first completed in 1800.
[ We have built no temple but the Capitol.
We consult no common oracle but the Constitution ]
Rufus Choate, Congressman & Orator
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History
On September 18, 1793, President George Washington laid
the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol Building at the southeast
corner of its foundation. The ceremony was carried out
with great pomp and celebration as it marked the building
of the young nation’s most symbolically important and
architecturally impressive building.
The building was to be the centerpiece in the creation of
Washington, D.C. as the nation’s new capital. Pierre Charles
L’Enfant, who created the plan of the city, selected the site
and laid out the wide boulevard leading up to it, but was
dismissed before he could draw the building itself.
In the democratic spirit that the building represented, the
then U.S. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson announced a
public competition to design the new Capitol Building.
An idea submitted by the amateur architect William
Thornton was selected and received praise from President
Washington for its “Grandeur, Simplicity and Beauty”. Three
renowned architects of the time, Stephen Hallet, George
Hadfield and the designer of the White House, James
Hoban, were asked to realize Thornton’s plan. After seven
years and many changes to Thornton’s original drawings,
the first stage was completed in 1800.
After being partially burned down by the British in 1814, the
U.S. Capitol Building was rebuilt and the first dome at the
center of the building was added in 1818. By the 1850s it was
clear that the building could no longer accommodate the
growing number of states joining the union and the Capitol
was expanded to become the building we recognize today.
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[ Here, sir, the people govern ]
Alexander Hamilton
The United States Capitol Building Today
The U.S. Capitol Building continues to be the working heart
of the nation’s government and the 435 Representatives
and 100 Senators still sit in the two houses of Congress
within the building. Here they debate legislation, hold
hearings and conduct investigations as the voice of the
American people.
But the U.S. Capitol Building is also an attraction in its own
right and houses some of the nation’s greatest art treasures.
The heart of the Capitol is the rotunda, a 96 ft. (29 m)
diameter circular hall crowned by an inner dome. Visible
through the eye of the dome, 180 ft. (55 m) above the floor
is a massive fresco painted by Italian artist Constantino
Brumidi. The 4,664 sq. ft. (433 m
2
) mural, entitled The
Apotheosis of George Washington, consists of a portrait of
the nation’s first president rising to the heavens. Brumidi
also designed the frieze at the top of the walls below the
rotunda depicting famous events and people in American
history. Eleven statues currently encircle the rotunda and
include former U.S. Presidents such as George Washington,
Abraham Lincoln and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
To accommodate the ever-increasing number of visitors
to the U.S. Capitol Building, a new Visitor Center was
opened in 2008. At nearly 580,000 sq. ft. (54,000 m
2
),
the Visitor Center was the largest project in the Capitol’s
more than two-century history and is approximately three
quarters the size of the Capitol itself. The entire facility is
located underground on the east side of the Capitol so as
not to detract from the building’s appearance.
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The Architects
The U.S. Capitol Building has become a landmark of 19th
century neoclassical architecture, but the history behind its
design and construction is full of controversy and drama.
The amateur architect William Thornton (1759-1828) was
born in the British West Indies and became an American
citizen in 1787 after completing a medical degree in
Scotland. While his design for the Capitol won him praise
from the President (as well as $500 and a building lot in
the city), the professional architects employed to oversee
the construction were less impressed and tried to alter his
design at every turn.
Stephen Hallet (1755-1825) was a professionally trained
architect from France. He arrived in the U.S. around 1790 and
submitted at least five designs of his own for the Capitol
building. Placed in charge of the construction process in
1793, Hallet revised the floor plan of the two wings before
being dismissed a year later for insubordination.
The English born architect George Hadfield (1763-1826)
took over from Hallet and straightaway suggested major
alterations to the original plan. Before his dismissal in
1798, he designed the first office buildings for the cabinet
departments.
James Hoban (1758-1831) had supervised both Hallet and
Hadfield and now took over the day-to-day supervision.
Born in Ireland, he had moved to the U.S. in 1785 after
studying architecture in Dublin. Hoban supervised the
completion of the north wing and designed its interior, while
also overseeing the building of the White House.
The 1850 expansion of the U.S. Capitol was carried out by
the American architect Thomas U Walter (1804-1887). The
construction of his two new wings more than doubled the
length of the Capitol. As the original dome of 1818 no longer
matched the bigger building, Walter replaced it with the
larger dome that still stands today.
[ ...the Capitol “ought to be upon
a scale far superior to anything
in this Country” ]
George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 1792
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Location: ........................ Washington, D.C., USA
Construction Periods: 1793, 1815, 1850, and 2000
Architectural Style: ..... 19th century Neo-Classical
Dimensions: .................. 751 ft. (229 m) by 350 ft. (106 m)
Height: ............................ 288 ft. (87 m)
Building Footprint: ....... 175,170 sq. ft. (16,258 m
2
)
Facts about the United States Capitol Building
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